Nothing Less Than Real
by Ahja Reyn
Summary: After saving his partner from a hostage situation, Sasuke learns Naruto still has his doubts about the part of their relationship that isn't work-related. NaruSasu.


**Title**: Nothing Less Than Real  
**Author**: Reyn  
**Rating**: PG13…R  
**Disclaimer**: I make no money off of this.  
**Warnings**: NaruSasu, detective!AU, oneshot  
**Author's Note**: Originally written for the Lemon Tree Parade…no idea what happened to that, so I'm posting this for the world.

**Nothing Less Than Real**

"Naruto? What the hell are _you_ doing here?"

The question only brought on an onslaught of struggling, muffled shouting and cursing as Sasuke stared at the man bound and gagged to the chair before him. His brain began working faster than his confusion as he quickly thought back to the ransom note he had read earlier before tossing it to the nearest person back at the station and dashing out the door.

'…_We have your girlfriend. Such pretty eyes. You have three days to meet our demands before we mail you those eyes in a jar._'

Sasuke blinked. Interesting. So they weren't talking about Sakura. A sort of relief flooded through him at the realization. He knew fully well that Naruto, his partner, could handle any sort of situation just fine; although judging from the amount of bruises and blood smeared over his face, he had been pushing the line quite a bit with his captors.

Why they would refer to Naruto as a girl was beyond Sasuke, considering how foul the idiot's mouth could get when pissed off. He could only assume Naruto blurted out a few things that weren't really anyone's business for them to choose to word the ransom the way they did.

Tucking his gun into its holster, Sasuke took a quick glance around the room before deeming it safe to step forward to undo to gag that Naruto seemed so intent on chewing through.

"What the fuck do you mean 'what the hell am I doing here,' you piece of shit!! I've been missing for four whole fucking days! You were _supposed_ to come save me the first day I didn't show up to the office! You don't even look the slightest bit worried-!!"

Sasuke promptly stuffed the rag back in Naruto's mouth, shuffling over so that he could cut through the ropes in peace. Unfortunately, the silence (if you could call it silence what with the gunfire and shouts going on outside) didn't last very long as Naruto soon spat the rag back out.

"You know, you should have checked me first before working on the ropes to make sure there wasn't a bomb attached to me. I could have exploded. Or what if there's a sniper across the street with his target laser aimed at my forehead?"

"The room doesn't have any windows, moron," Sasuke replied, frowning at the slow pace his pocket knife was moving through the ropes. "And you shouldn't go giving your captors ideas on how to hold you hostage. You're a cop, not some action movie stuntman." He brushed his thumb lightly over a bit of raw skin that looked about ready to start bleeding if Naruto didn't hold still any time soon.

"Yeah? Well if I hadn't suggested the ransom note, you would probably still be sitting at the desk, playing nerd and looking through paperwork to track these guys rather than out on the streets – Kiba! Hey!"

One of Precinct 13's other detectives lucky enough to tag along and charge in with the SWAT Team, Kiba Inuzaka, backtracked several steps and poked his head in the door.

"Naruto?" He stared a bit before comprehension seemed to dawn on his face. "Dude, you look like shit. Seriously, don't even grin at me like that. It just looks painful," he complained as he walked into the room, taking in the situation as he pulled out his radio to call and report that the hostage situation was now clear.

"Where exactly are you hurt?" Sasuke asked, standing as he began to unravel the ropes.

Tilting his head back to look up at his partner, Naruto took a moment to close his eyes and sigh in relief as the pressure around his body let up, allowing him to breathe properly once again. "My face," he replied after a moment, tilting his head from side to side for a bit in thought. "And my wrists. They kicked me in the chest and stomach a few times. Oh, and there's this bump on my head from when I was rocking and struggling in the chair too much and ended up falling backwards. I think that's when they finally decided to listen to me about the ransom note. They got worried I might have given myself a concussion and would die on their watch."

Sasuke snorted, watching as Kiba offered a hand to help pull Naruto to his feet. The reality of the situation and just exactly what had been going on without his knowledge was slowly sinking into the detective, causing his throat to constrict a bit as he watched his partner hobble towards the door while being supported by his friend. Eyes narrowing at the feeling, Sasuke moved forward to check the halls, making sure they were clear to get Naruto out of the building and down to the ambulance that would soon be waiting below.

"Uh, guys? It's great that you're saving me and all, but can we stop by a bathroom first?" Naruto asked sheepishly. "I haven't peed since yesterday morning…"

*

Rubbing his temples at the growing amount of paperwork surrounding the only partially-solved case, Sasuke sorely wished Naruto was back in tip-top shape so that he could throttle him. In the whirlwind of reports, witness statements, press, lawyers, and evidence documentation, the two hardly had any time to themselves let alone for one another. This led to a lot of sheepish smiles as the Chief was constantly calling Naruto into her office to yell at him for various reasons, leaving Sasuke behind to deal with the deskwork.

Flipping open yet another folder, Sasuke began to read through it before realizing it was missing a copy of the ransom note he had received. Biting back a groan, he pushed his chair back and stood, debating on stealing a page out of Naruto's book and taking the long way down to the Evidence Room just so he could get a small break from it all.

His debate was cut short as he bumped into Naruto, who seemed to be heading back to his desk to sit down for the first time in days. Hope rose through Sasuke and he opened his mouth, only to stop short at the angry glare he was being given.

The look disappeared less than a second later, only to be replaced by a less-than-certain glance off to the side. "The Chief is…er…forcing me to go to the hospital. But I think I'm just going to take off for home instead. I was just stopping by to grab some of the paperwork to take with me."

Sasuke blinked. While it was true that Naruto had a terrible aversion to hospitals and doctors to the point that he had stories of trying to reset broken bones himself, it was unusual for him to actually skip out of the office when the Chief got on his case about seeing a doctor.

"What's really going on?" Sasuke asked, cutting straight to the chase as Naruto began gathering up what he could on his desk.

"It's nothing." Naruto paused long enough to look up at Sasuke before shaking his head and continuing in his task. "I just…need some time to clear my head about a few things and staying here isn't going to help any."

"Naruto-"

"I'll talk to you later or something."

Sasuke watched in shock as Naruto walked around him, brushing by Kiba who had just dashed in through the door only to press himself against the wall as the other detective hurried by. Allowing his eyes to follow Naruto for a moment, Kiba looked guiltily back towards Sasuke, holding out a paper in his hands that Sasuke realized to be the copy he needed of the ransom note.

"He uh…sort of found out that the reason you went charging in all gun-ho was because you thought they had Sakura…and not him," Kiba explained, casting another glance towards the door as if expecting Naruto to still be there.

The pit of Sasuke's stomach dropped out at the admission, causing his hand to stop short of taking the paper from Kiba. Sakura was something of a sore subject between the two of them, simply because of the way she was involved in their history.

Things had started back when Sasuke had been reassigned to the 13th Precinct thanks to a huge department reshuffle about a year back and his new partner, Naruto Uzumaki, had greeted him with, "Hey Hot Stuff! I promise not to hate you 'cause you're so beautiful."

This greeting was unfortunately followed by days of an onslaught of smiles and staring that would continue even after Naruto was caught. Normally Sasuke wouldn't really care, but something in the way Naruto looked at him sometimes made him want to shift in his seat and hide his face behind whatever folder happened to be out on his desk.

Compliments such as, "That suit looks good on you." started popping up some time around his second week. Usually, Sasuke was able to bat such stupidity away with replies such as, "Idiot, it's the same suit I wore last week." but then there would be moments in which the sincerity Naruto delivered his compliment in would temporarily knock Sasuke off his feet and leave him with little else to say other than, "…Thank you."

Sasuke wasn't sure why he never bothered to put a stop to the simple force that was his partner's advances in its early stages. Especially when it grew to actual flirtation.

He tried to tell himself that the only reason he responded to such banter was to keep Naruto happy, seeing as how he tended to become unbearably annoying when sulking.

Then one day they were out chasing a suspect in the usual cliché fashion when Sasuke's pant leg decided it would be fun to snag itself on a fence he was in the middle of jumping over. Rather than land gracefully like he usually did, he found himself in a jumbled heap in Naruto's arms, his partner's cry of, "Watch out!" echoing through the abandoned alley.

Something between them changed that day. And it wasn't just Sasuke noticing how much Naruto actually enjoyed touching him.

From then on, Sasuke found his mind focusing more and more on Naruto. Ideas on how he would direct potential conversations for the day while getting ready for work in the mornings was probably the most annoying development of it all.

Everyone in the office simply took what was happening between the new partners into stride, as if Naruto's antics were nothing new – until Naruto started offering to treat Sasuke to ramen. Sasuke could still remember how the entire building actually came to a standstill the first time it happened. Apparently, the words "ramen" and "I'll treat" were _never_ put in the same sentence when coming from Naruto's mouth.

It was somewhere within the two months of holding out on the excuse that he didn't like ramen that Sasuke began to realize that everything Naruto was doing was beginning to affect him on a sexual level. It was extremely unsettling to have spiky blond hair and deep blue eyes flash into his fantasies mere milliseconds before coming. It was also a sure sign of madness to not only find himself imagining what that tanned body looked like beneath the pressed shirts and slacks, but to find certain body parts responding and insisting on being brought to completion at the thought of calloused hands stroking pale skin and pulling him close.

It was in such a fit of said madness that Sasuke finally agreed to dinner with Naruto one Friday. Unfortunately, it was that same Friday that Sakura chose to show up at the station.

No one knew that Sasuke had a private life, let alone a girlfriend, because he was a firm believer in keeping his personal life completely separate from his work – Naruto being an obvious exception. So when she showed up out of the blue to pick Sasuke up and forcibly take him to her parents' for dinner (a move prompted by his skipping out of the last five invitations using work as an excuse), he was just as shocked as the rest of the force.

Sakura didn't let the fact that she was unknown to everyone phase her as she cheerfully went about integrating herself into a part of Sasuke's life that he really didn't want her involved in. It wasn't until she was at his shared cubicle and shaking hands with Naruto did Sasuke fully realize just how much trouble the situation put him in.

If Naruto was surprised, or even hurt, he had done an excellent job of hiding it as he jovially greeted Sakura. He made no mention of his almost questionable relationship with Sasuke, and probably would have gotten along great with Sakura if one of the first questions out of his mouth hadn't been, "Are your boobs real?" earning him a nasty knock upside the head.

Sasuke felt compelled to explain, if not apologize for leading Naruto on when he already had a significant other. But come that following Monday, he never got the chance. It was as if he were being given the cold shoulder – except he wasn't.

Naruto still greeted him as always and carried on with random conversation, but everything was kept to a friendly yet professional level. The heated glances were gone, as were the soft touches and lingering smiles. It was as if Naruto was finally respecting the wall Sasuke had spent years building up around himself after he gone and had torn it down and stomped on it.

It took Sasuke the better part of a week to finally approach Naruto, and the reply he received had been something along the lines of, "Hey, it's cool. I got the message loud and clear. You're obviously straight, so I'm guessing my advances just confused the hell out of you as they would with anyone else."

Sasuke chose to respond by punching him in the jaw, successfully shattering whatever mask Naruto had been wearing for the past week.

This naturally led to a fist fight right there in the underground parking structure that continued on until they had knocked each other into enough vehicles with car alarms to alert security who showed up to break them apart.

Sasuke learned a number of things that day. One was that Naruto could pull his punches, both offensively and defensively. The other was that Naruto had some serious morals when it came to dating.

"_I'm not going to be your dirty little secret just because you conveniently forgot to mention you're already dating someone!_"

Serious morals that were probably being severely violated by Sasuke's misconception of his 'girlfriend' being in reference to his now-ex, Sakura.

The mountain of paperwork could wait until tomorrow.

*

Sasuke felt his eyes narrow as Naruto merely sighed and scratched his head upon opening his apartment door, making no move to invite his partner inside, choosing instead to simply lean against the door frame and cross his arms.

"I didn't take any reports or anything you needed, did I?" Naruto asked, confirming Sasuke's bleak suspicion of everything they had built up in the past few months being tossed away like nothing in favor of strict professionalism.

"I'm here about the ransom note," Sasuke replied, determined to clear things up as quickly as possible.

Naruto's jaw tensed for a moment before he finally nodded, stepping aside so that Sasuke could enter his home.

"You can't hold it against me for thinking they had Sakura," Sasuke said as he slipped off his jacket and placed it on the back of one of the dining table's chairs. He watched warily as Naruto moved forward, clearly reluctant to abandon his position by the front door.

"Yeah, but we've been together for two whole months now…"

"Whereas I was with Sakura for almost four years," Sasuke interrupted.

Naruto's jaw snapped shut and it took him a moment to find a different angle. "I was missing for three and a half days!"

"And we were all looking into that!" Sasuke defended.

"Oh? And would you have looked just as hard if my name had clearly been stated on that note?"

"…Yes!" The split-second of silence before Sasuke's answer lasted a moment too long, forcing him to elaborate before Naruto could pounce on his hesitation. "Just-…without the same level of desperation."

The narrowing of Naruto's eyes indicated that the explanation was rejected. "Why? Because she's a woman? Bullshit. I bet you anything she would have come out of that situation looking better than me. It's because somewhere in the back of your mind, you still see her as your girlfriend!" he accused.

At this, Sasuke looked up sharply. "Is that what you think?"

"Yeah, that's exactly what I think!"

There was a tense moment where they simply glared at one another before Naruto snorted and shook his head, causing Sasuke to belatedly realize he probably should have denied the claim.

"Look, Sasuke, I know I tend to come off in a lot of different directions, but I went into this completely serious, and…" Naruto trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck before meeting his lover's dark gaze. "…I really don't want to continue things if all it's going to amount to in the end is a fling."

"A fling?" Sasuke echoed dubiously.

"Yeah. I-"

"A fling," he repeated.

"Er, yes. Becau-"

"You think this is a fling?" Sasuke's tone bordered on dangerous. "That I would break up with my girlfriend of nearly _four_ years for a _fling_??"

Naruto glanced around, his body language clearly indicating he thought this to be a trick question. "Well…yeah. I mean, it happens all the time! You're stuck in a long term relationship and then something new and exciting like me comes along and-" It must have looked like Sasuke was ready to punch him because Naruto quickly threw his hands up in defense. "It's a textbook case! If you were to ask Sakura, I promise you she's probably thinking the exact same thing, waiting for your curiosity to be satisfied so you'll go back-"

Sasuke advanced, grabbing Naruto by the front of his shirt and shoving him into the nearest wall. "Don't you dare rationalize me off like you tried to do last time."

Naruto's hands remained up, this time in surrender. "I'm not trying to rationalize anything off! Everything about both this situation and the last one points to just that!"

"Then why aren't you getting mad at me for it!" Sasuke shouted. "Why aren't you throwing these unfounded accusations at me and yelling and arguing with me like you always do? What the hell makes this relationship so different from everything else we have?!?"

Naruto guiltily looked away. "You're straight," he stated as if that explained everything. "And I don't want to go pressuring you in any of your decisions about us in case you suddenly change your mind-"

"What?!" Sasuke asked incredulously. "What kind of self-respecting straight man would suck another man's dick?"

Naruto bit his lip. "You'd be surprised…"

Sasuke had to take a moment to physically restrain himself from popping the idiot in the mouth. "Look. I don't do flings. I never have and I never will. All of my relationships have been both long term and serious, and that's a trend I plan on continuing. I've never dated chicken shits either, nor do I ever intend to. But if you're going to sit here and be terrified of the possibility of this actually being something real, complete with the hardships that may come about from my 'straight' way of thinking, then maybe you're right about us ending things here and now."

The crushed look that entered Naruto's eyes made Sasuke want to take it all back. The raging fire that immediately followed, however, was completely unexpected.

"I'm not a chicken shit, you fuckwad! I'm just calling the facts as I see them! You tried to date me when you were still with her!" An arm squeezed its way between them so an accusing finger could be smashed into Sasuke's nose.

"That wasn't dating, that was a casual dinner between coworkers!"

"I was planning on paying and you knew it! It was a date!"

The frown on Sasuke's face conceded his defeat. They both knew that if Sakura had never shown up that day, Sasuke would have never opened his mouth about her while continuing to lead Naruto on. Was this just a fling? The insisting jabs from the tanned finger refused to let him deny the possibility.

Batting the hand away, Sasuke loosened his grip so that he could comfortably rest his head on Naruto's shoulder. "What if I promised to never grow tired of you?"

The hollow sound of Naruto's laugh echoed in the ear Sasuke had pressed against his body. "You shouldn't go making stupid promises just to make me feel better."

Sasuke looked up and glared. "I'm not trying to make _you_ feel better. You're an idiot."

He moved away from Naruto and towards the couch, flopping down on his back so that he could stare at the ceiling. "I don't want this to be a fling," he admitted.

Remaining in his position against the wall, Naruto agreed, "Me neither."

"Then how can we prove that this is real?" Sasuke asked, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.

"Well, it's real on my part." Sasuke could see the shrug of Naruto's shoulders without actually looking. "You're just going to have to promise to never grow tired of me."

Sasuke momentarily froze, refusing to vocally acknowledge that statement.

There was a soft creak and Sasuke could hear gentle footfalls, indicating Naruto had left his wall-hugging position.

"Look, the Chief's been on my case to take a leave…"

Sasuke popped up into a sitting position, finding Naruto much closer than he had thought. "What??"

"I've been refusing, but it turns out that the guys we caught are some important small fry, and I guess out of the shit I said to them while they had me, something in there was a key clue to one of our cases, 'cause now the big boss is moving around a lot, so apparently my safety is at stake," Naruto explained.

"What the hell did you say?" Sasuke asked, scooting over to make room so the other could sit.

"I have no fucking clue!" Naruto's hands chose to emphasize this point as he lowered himself into the couch. "I said a ton of shit to piss them off! And apparently something we already know and are overlooking is the key to something and now they know that and they're scrambling and we're scrambling and this…us…is a big scrambling mess…"

"You're an idiot," Sasuke volunteered.

Naruto scowled. "I've been refusing to take the leave mainly because I want to help, but with everything that's going on right now, maybe it's best if I did disappear for a bit. You know, until things settle."

Sasuke didn't need to ask for clarification to know that 'everything' was mainly just them.

"So, what, you're just running away?" he demanded, not really liking the prospect.

Naruto stood and shrugged as he waited for his partner to follow. "If that's how you choose to see it for now. You could also give me a little credit and say I'm doing this for you."

Walking around the other end of the couch so that his angry movements wouldn't be inhibited as he grabbed his jacket, Sasuke snorted. "And how is you leaving supposed to benefit me any? You're just forcing things to end on your terms!"

A sad smile seemed to settle on Naruto's face before he forced it to bloom into a full-fledged grin. "Fine. I'm doing this for my own safety so the bad guys won't kill me at some point on my way to and from the station. Plus the Chief threatened to chop my balls off if I didn't either take the leave and/or visit the hospital. How's that sound?"

Rather than answer, Sasuke chose to let himself out, making sure to slam the door hard enough behind him so that various objects were sure to rattle in its wake.

*

The next month was the worst Sasuke ever had the misfortune of living through. All forms of vacations and weekends were denied as the entire precinct put everything they had into capturing these guys so their co-worker could come back to them safely. Sasuke wasn't the only one who went home to do little else other than grab a change of clothes, opting to simply use the building's locker room showers to keep up physical appearances.

At one point Sakura had even called his office, worried because she had been told that he wasn't answering any calls made to his cell or home. When he explained to her what he wasn't sworn to secrecy over, her response had covered both sympathy and the request that maybe they should grab a bite to eat sometime so that she could help him relax.

"_If you were to ask Sakura, I promise you she's probably thinking the exact same thing…_"

Sasuke had promptly hung up on her and refused to take any office calls from then on, forcing his coworkers to physically come find him if a message needed to be delivered.

It took another few weeks before the fateful day for them to finally solve the case arrived.

But Naruto didn't arrive with it.

While the office was merely confused by his absence, Sasuke was sent into a state of near-panic because of it. Why hadn't he returned? Didn't he say he would only be gone until things settled? Had the criminals gotten their hands on him a second time and they just failed to realize it? Was this Naruto's way of telling him that what they had _was_ a fling and there was no chance of reconciliation?

Now suffering from insomnia, Sasuke practically continued to live at work, torn between solving his actual cases and throwing everything he had into finding just where the hell his partner had disappeared to this time around.

The Chief was starting to pressure him to take a vacation.

It was two weeks later, when he was on his way to the copy machine in a coffee overdose-induced haze that he heard a familiar voice loudly making an exit from the Chief's office.

"I _said_ I was sorry, you hag! Geez, I can't believe you actually threw the stapler at my head when I walked in. You're supposed to wait until I open my mouth, first. Hey, Sasuke! Wow, you look like shit!"

Sasuke remained frozen where he was, wondering if maybe he should lay off the coffee seeing as how it was putting god-awful Hawaiian shirts with patterns that made his eyes want to bleed on certain blonds who were supposed to be missing and in perilous danger.

"Er…Sasuke?"

There was a loud clatter as everything in Sasuke's arms hit the floor, his mug shattering and coffee splattering over all the paperwork that still had yet to be copied.

Dimly, Sasuke was aware of a commotion going on as a result of his actions, but all that he cared about was the strong chest pressed against his own and the muscular torso wrapped in his arms. Squeezing his partner, he buried his face into Naruto's neck, breathing in deeply the cologne that brought back a wave of exhausting memories.

"This is not a fling," Sasuke demanded, fisting the back of the horrible shirt and refusing to let go.

Slowly, he could feel Naruto's arms come up to wrap around his form. "Not a fling," was the agreement as one hand came up to bury itself in black locks.

Satisfied with the answer, Sasuke felt himself sink deeper into the warmth and protection that Naruto offered, his mind finally at peace now that his lover was back where he belonged.

*

The first thing Sasuke noticed as he regained consciousness was that the room smelled strongly of lemon-scented cleaning products. Opening his eyes, he found himself staring up at fluorescent lighting fixtures that were not turned on.

Forcing himself up into a sitting position, he looked around, realizing he was on one of the cheap couches from the station's lobby that had been relocated to the break room.

Interesting. The couch hadn't been here when he was getting his seventh cup of coffee earlier.

The sound of the door opening and people hushing one another as they entered brought Sasuke's attention to the entrance of the room just as the lights were switched on, forcing him to squint his eyes shut at their harsh glare.

"Oh! He's awake! I guess you guys weren't needed after all."

"I _told_ you he didn't pass out! He fell asleep! Why is it so hard to listen to me when I tell you people things!"

"Well, pushing your body to extreme exhaustion is still something we can look at. We should still take him in and maybe monitor him for a bit. It'll give him a chance to rest up properly and we can give him the fluids and whatnot his body is probably lacking right now."

"Hell no, you money-grubbing bastards! All he needs is some sleep and a few hearty meals and _I'll_ be the one fixing those! I'm not visiting him in the damn hospital just because you think he's a pansy – Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

Sasuke blinked, a bit confused as a paramedic was suddenly there kneeling before him, pulling out a small flashlight and making him flinch as the light was shone directly into his eyes.

"Can you tell me your name, sir?" the paramedic asked, seemingly satisfied with his eyes' reaction and moving on to grab Sasuke's wrist and check his pulse against the clock on the far wall.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"And the date?"

Sasuke sent an uncertain glance towards Naruto, who was currently being held back by Kiba as they both remained in the doorway to the break room.

"Uhm, Wednesday?"

"Okay, how about the year?"

Unable to help himself, Sasuke rolled his eyes. "1892. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go home and check on my goat," was his reply as he stood, ignoring the twin snorts from the door.

He was forced back down by several hands he hadn't realized were surrounding him.

"Delirium?" the paramedic on his right asked.

The one kneeling before him grinned and shook his head, choosing to address Sasuke instead. "Hang on, just take it easy. We won't take you in if you don't want us to, but you should probably take the rest of the day off. I'll talk to your supervisor; you just stay here and relax a bit."

With a scowl, Sasuke remained where he was, watching the line of paramedics shuffle back out of the room, squeezing by Naruto as he refused to move aside for any of them, his eyes locked on Sasuke's form.

Kiba looked between them a few times before pointing over his shoulder. "I'll just go see what they have to say and stuff," he said, backing out of the doorway.

A momentary silence settled over the break room before Naruto shifted to pull the door shut behind him, dragging one of the wooden chairs out from the table so that he could sit opposite of his partner.

"What the hell was all that about?" Sasuke asked, relaxing a bit as Naruto's knee brushed his own in the tight space between them as he sat down.

"The Chief poked her head out to see what was going on when you dropped your stuff and kind of overreacted when she saw you pass out in my arms. Apparently, you've been working yourself to death while I was gone," Naruto explained, reaching out to take Sasuke's hand into his own.

Unable to hide the rising blush, Sasuke chose to avert his gaze to the crumbs of food under the table. "I didn't pass out, idiot."

"I know."

Surprised, Sasuke looked back up and saw that Naruto was serious in his admission. Regardless, Sasuke still felt the need to explain himself further.

"I fell asleep."

"I know."

"…Voluntarily."

"I know."

"Because…well…because!"

Naruto smiled. "I know."

Sasuke shifted uncomfortably, subtly scooting to the edge of his seat so that he could be that much closer to his partner. Taking notice again of the ugly shirt, he asked, "Where were you?"

Glancing down at his shirt in surprise, Naruto laughed, scratching his nose sheepishly. "I sort of tagged along with my parents on this month long cruise that hit just about every tropical island you can image. I didn't actually realize it was one of those super-long cruises until we were at our third island. I tried calling you to let you know, but you never answered any of your phones and eventually my dad convinced me to just drop it and enjoy myself. Although it probably would have helped if he had reminded me to just call my boss first, seeing as how I was more worried about getting the message to you… Can you believe I actually had to buy a few new outfits while on the ship since I didn't pack enough?"

"You were on a cruise?" Sasuke repeated. "While the rest of us were here and suffering through Hell for your sake?"

"You mean while _you_ were suffering through hell?" Naruto clarified. "Yeah, pretty much. I couldn't exactly stay anywhere locally and my parents insisted on me coming with them since I had the time off."

Sasuke scowled, not really liking the answer but unable to argue with it.

"If it makes you feel better, I didn't exactly have a blast or anything," Naruto tried to console. "The entire time I was missing you like crazy, wishing you were there with me just so we could have experienced it all together. To make myself feel better, I had to turn it into one of those soul searching journeys, which was really weird considering I didn't have that much to search for in the first place."

"Hm." Sasuke didn't really have anything to say to that.

"But you know, if I knew you were going to be in this condition when I got back, I probably wouldn't have left in the first place," Naruto said, concern shining through his features as he looked over Sasuke's deteriorated state.

"I'm fine," Sasuke scoffed, pulling his hands away and sitting up straighter in a pathetic attempt at manliness. He was surprised at just how much his heart cried out against the action. "I'm just…not as fine as I could be when you're around."

Chuckling, Naruto stood, grabbing the back of Sasuke's head and tilting it back so that he could place a soft kiss on Sasuke's forehead. "I missed you too, bastard. Come on, I'll take you home."

He was prevented from actually moving away by the firm grip on his Hawaiian shirt. Confused, Naruto looked down to see Sasuke rest his head against his lower hip and watched as his lover took a moment to simply revel in his presence.

"Er…at the presumably low risk of getting fired, I could just take the rest of the week off with you and feed the Chief some bullshit excuse like I left my luggage in Vanuatu or something?"

"Not on your life, Uzumaki."

Both men turned to see a pair of walking boobs enter the break room.

"Chief!" There was a split-second of panicked thinking. "I need the rest of the week off!"

"You've been gone for two months on paid leave," the Chief crossed her arms, looking quite intimidating in the small room. "That's a month more than what I originally granted you."

"Yeah, but…Sasuke needs the rest!" Naruto argued, pointing down at his partner who was scowling thanks to their small moment having been ruined.

The Chief scowled back. "And he's getting the rest of the week off for it."

"What about me?" Naruto pouted, causing the Chief's sharp eyes to focus back on him.

"You plan on arguing in circles with me, brat?"

"Aw, come on, Chief!" Naruto whined. "You know perfectly well that he's just going to come back to work tomorrow anyways! But if I'm off with him, he'll have more incentive to actually stay home!"

A loud snort. "What? And rest? With you around?" the Chief asked skeptically.

Naruto grinned hesitantly. "Yes?"

Sasuke merely watched the internal conflict go on behind the Chief's eyes. All three of them knew perfectly well that he would show up tomorrow bright and early regardless of his state, simply because now that Naruto was back, this is where he would be. Would the absence of two of her best detectives for the well-being really of only one of them be worth having to explain all this to her higher-ups?

Shaking her head, the Chief gave in. "Fine. For the record, you've got some tropical illness and I'm not giving you paid time off for this. Now get out of here. I don't want to see either of your faces until Monday."

Cheering as their boss turned to leave, Naruto excitedly pumped a fist up in triumph. "You hear that, Sasuke? We get…wow…"

Confused, Sasuke looked up to find Naruto staring at him. He frowned. "What?"

Naruto blinked, coming out of his stupor. "Nothing. You…you were just smiling is all."

Sasuke's frown deepened. "What?"

"Well, you don't smile that often – I mean, I can count on one hand how many times I've seen you smile – so whenever I do see you smile, I…uh…" Naruto blushed and made a visible effort to force the rest of the sentence out of his mouth as smoothly as possible. "I-feel-myself-falling-in-love-with-you-a-little-more," he mumbled, walking away a few steps as the words tumbled from his lips as if to hide himself from any further embarrassment.

It took a moment for Sasuke to decipher what was said, and when he did he had to fight back the second smile that threatened to appear.

"Idiot," he chastised light-heartedly as he stood, straightening his jacket before moving towards the door. "Let's just go home. You have a lot of making up to do to me."

Grumbling, Naruto turned to follow. "You're supposed to make some kind of confession in turn, bastard."

"Not on your life, moron," Sasuke shot back, glad the two of them were finally ready to move forward.

_Fin_


End file.
